Planning to Peel the Onion

Posted on Wed 4th Dec, 2019 @ 12:10am by Lieutenant Damion Ildaran & Captain Andrus Grax

643 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Resolution
Location: Intelligence Department Large Conference Room
Timeline: MD-2, 0900

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Grax nodded towards Ildaran, who had just finished his opening case summary. "Zelda Alegari is one of the most complex cases that I have ever seen, but I am convinced that the she has information that will benefit our investigations in a number of ways, but we are running out of time to get that information from her - especially now she has retained Ms Addams as her counsel. So," he opened his hands and gestured towards the assembled officers, "Options, ideas?"

"I suggest," Doctor Addams responded, "keeping a phaser set to stun hidden up your sleeve anytime you're inside the interview room."

Muffet Langston, the Crime Scene Investigator who had written the final report to date on Zelda's assassination ring, turned all eight of her eyes on the Doctor. "I don't believe Ms Alig... Ale... Aligator to be that dangerous, or that stupid."

"Not her," Addams answered dryly. "My sister."

Grax couldn't help but smile a little. His interactions with various members of the Addams family had been nothing if not eventful and, while he hadn't met Ischemia personally yet, he had no reason to believe that she would be any less interesting than the rest of them. Nor did he believe Chlamydia had any reason to be overstating her point. "We don't want to feel we're holding a gun to anyone's head," he said, diplomatically, "But, yes," he glanced back towards Langston, hoping she didn't pick up on the fact that he still found her appearance slightly unnerving. "Appropriate security measures will be taken."

Damion glanced at Grax for permission to speak. "I'd like for us to plan out the strategy of questioning and plan who'll be in the room during each session," Damion said. "Dr. Graves has suggested we start with the easy questions and work up to the more difficult ones. I doubt we'll get any real information about Zelda's handler and who's behind the ring until we can get Morrigan to show herself. So I'd like to go at this in stages. Personally, I'm not entirely sure what questions, if any, Zelda can answer without shifting into one of her alters. So I will have to go slow wither her--talk about plants, maybe, since that causes her no anxiety. I need something that will get her comfortable enough to talk with me. Do any of you have any advice?"

"I believe thumbscrews are traditional," Addams said.

"Doctor!" Muffet protested. "You can't just jump to thumbscrews! There has to be a build-up! Splinters under the fingernails come first!"

"Ah, yes. Forgive my lapse of judgement."

"What, not sleep deprivation?" Damion countered. He sighed and went on. "I'll start by chatting with her about plants for a few minutes. That can lead into how she came here and where she came from. That should lead back to her handler. The handler should lead back to both the transmitter and, last of all, the ring. Does that plan sound reasonable to you all, or do you have lines of questioning you'd like to insert into it?"

"That seems like a sensible starting point," Grax replied. "Although try not to drag for too long - I know it's a fine line," he clarified quickly, "But we're on the clock here and if we don't get something from her soon..." He stopped mid-sentence, knowing that everyone realised the importance of securing whatever information Alegari knew.

"If we don't get something from her soon--we can't keep her in custody indefinitely without arraigning her, no matter how concerned we are for her safety," Damion said. "And the longer we keep her here without learning anything of substance, the more time our big fish has to slip away, and we don't want that. I'll not belabor the small talk. Shall we start out with you, Dr. Addams, me, and Commander Eberstark?"

 

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